AFL Players’ Indigenous Advisory Board Chair Shaun Burgoyne has made the following statement in relation to the reports of racial vilification at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday night.

“We’re sad that our brothers and sisters are still experiencing racial vilification despite the ongoing education and promotion done within the football industry and wider society.

This has been happening for far too long and we, as Indigenous footballers, have had enough. We deserve more respect than we are being shown.

The abuse directed towards players is more than just words and people need to understand the impact that it has on the player, their family, their children and their community.

While it’s heartening that these incidents are being called out, there’s a lot of work to do before we can claim to be a truly inclusive game.”

Indigenous Advisory Board pens open letter

AFL Players’ Association CEO Paul Marsh said the following on behalf of all AFL players in support of the Indigenous Advisory Board and Indigenous players.

“No AFL footballer, and no person for that matter, should have to experience any form of vilification in their workplace.

Football is a fierce game and players love the passion fans show for their team, but the racial vilification that continues to happen must stop.

As an industry we have a responsibility to do everything in our power to ensure incidents like this are a thing of the past.

Indigenous people make an enormous contribution to our game and the football community owes them more respect.”